OTTAWA — A week before Easter, the temperature in Ottawa was finally above zero and spring, or at least spring fever, seemed to have reached the House of Commons chamber.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer wore rosy ties for the International Day of Pink, and a sea of MPs behind them sported yellow daffodil pins in support of cancer research. But they couldn’t agree on much else Wednesday. The annual frenzy colloquially referred to as “silly season,” always hotter in an election year, seemed to have begun in earnest.

Despite the flowers and pastels, Liberals still seemed mired in the barren, grey winter. On the agenda Wednesday, aside from a triumphant “We freed the beer!” from Trudeau, were repeated challenges from Scheer for the prime minister to make good on a defamation lawsuit his lawyer threatened last week — apparently in the hopes that bringing the matter to court would unearth further details about the ongoing SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Variations on “When will I see the prime minister in court?” and “I’m just waiting for him to tell me on what day I should show up” from Scheer were met with variations on “They’re still following Stephen Harper’s playbook” and “The Opposition continues to mislead Canadians” from Trudeau.

After several rounds of the same, the Liberal leader made a joke about how Groundhog Day had been back in February, before repeating himself anew. The Conservative leader joked that with Trudeau’s father, it had been “just watch me,” but with Trudeau, it was “just watch me run away.”

Trudeau did not address, in question period or to reporters earlier Wednesday, whether or not he planned to proceed with the suit.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer goes on the attack during question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday April 10, 2019.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Conservatives had made public the libel notice from Trudeau’s lawyer, Julian Porter, on the weekend. And daring Trudeau to a game of chicken, Scheer had stood outside of the House of Commons chamber before question period to recite his allegedly defamatory March 29 statement again.

“These documents and recordings are concrete evidence that proves Justin Trudeau led a campaign to politically interfere in SNC-Lavalin’s criminal prosecution. He personally gave the orders and when the former attorney general refused to follow them and break the law, she was fired,” Scheer repeated, going on to reiterate the entire 200-word statement, which ended with a demand for Trudeau’s resignation.

Scheer was referring to documentation former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould presented to the House justice committee. In testimony she had accused the prime minister and his officials of inappropriately pressuring her to overturn, for political reasons, the Director of Public Prosecutions’s decision not to offer the Montreal company a remediation agreement.

Porter’s letter said Scheer’s comments were “highly defamatory” and “beyond the pale of fair debate.” The lawyer spelled out each of Scheer’s assertions and how they were “entirely false.” Bolstered by an enthusiastic roster of MPs, Scheer challenged Trudeau to say so in front of a judge.

In what felt like a dress rehearsal for the federal election scheduled for October, the leaders talking over each other on SNC-Lavalin led to sparring on an entirely different political issue.

Responding to Scheer’s demand for a court date, Trudeau accused Scheer of failing to denounce white supremacy, and invited him to chastise Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos for saying, during a committee exchange with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland Tuesday, that “I would find it disturbing to believe that there’s a politician in this country that believes that white supremacy is a threat to our way of life in Canada.”

In response, Scheer said he has always denounced white supremacy and racism, and added it was “disgusting” for Trudeau to bring it up. “The Liberals are using the very real threat of hatred and racism in this country to cover up their corruption scandal,” he said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday April 10, 2019.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

There was a brief uproar in the House as MPs reacted to the exchange. Independent MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes was heard loudly protesting the political football over racism. “It’s real,” she was heard yelling over the crowd. Later on Twitter, she said, “Playing politics with racism, which impacts people on a daily basis is, disgusting and wrong. What just happened in the (House of Commons) is shameful.” Whether she was attacking Trudeau or Scheer — or both — wasn’t clear.

Housakos had earlier used Twitter to clarify his comments, saying his point was that no leaders in Western democracy condone white supremacist movements or extremism of any kind. Scheer, after question period, used the same platform to accuse Liberals of trying to “score cheap points.”

It had been a classic made-for-TV question period, the kind that Ottawa politicos write off as a necessary evil but that turns the stomachs of the sweet summer children in the gallery. It was chock full of combat, revealing almost nothing new, containing several dad jokes and managing to deeply offend.

There are still 194 days to go until the scheduled election day. The forecast guarantees that summer will be filled with hot air.

When my assistant said there was a call from the White House, I picked up, said 'Hello' and started to ask if this was a prank

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